Gave this book to my teen son last year as a Christmas gift and he loved it. He is not planning to travel to Korea anytime soon but has a Korean friend who now lives there. They stay in touch with each other through the internet.
My son is interested in the language and culture. His friend has started to teach him the language and talks about cultural things. This book has helped my son familiarize himself with the culture and the language as he communicates with his Korean friend. It has maps so he now has a better understanding of where in Korea his friend lives. He enjoys the cultural references and finds some of them to be quite amusing. It is a phrase book and that is all he wants or needs. He is not interested in mastering the language and is more interested in the cultural differences than the language. He is now asking for similar books in different languages so I may order some others for this Christmas. For something that went into his stocking, I can't tell you how many times I have seen this book in his hands this past year...a lot more than the expensive video games. I would recommend this book to travelers and people who are curious about other languages and cultures, particularly teens. It's great.